2008 books

17) Paul Melko, Singularity's Ring, 2008   ( RECOMMENDED BY autopope )
In the not too distant future, circling 10,000 kilometres above Earth is the massive post-Singularity 'Ring', now empty after an unexpected rapture that took billions of people. Those that are left on Earth are divided between the unconnected singletons and the group minds, genetically engineered post-humans preparing their own exploration of the far reaches of the solar system. Apollo Papadopoulos is a five-person group who is training to pilot the starship Consensus to the mysterious Rift beyond Neptune, except that someone is out to kill Apollo for far-reaching reasons that must be learned the hard way. paulmelko's debut novel is something of an understated winner. The post-human future he imagines is original and complex but not too far-fetched, and the story more often than not goes where you don't expect. Some inevitable linguistic complexities are tackled directly, and the melée of themes that are present right from the beginning all discreetly disentangle then reassemble with clarity. In Apollo we have five well-drawn personalities who not only each carry their weight in driving the plot forward but also, to Melko's credit, allow you to get under the collective skin of their group mind experience. Melko has a straightforward but intellectually engaging style; give him the seventy-or-so pages he uses to get the story going and he rewards you very well. This certainly deserves a sequel.